Improvement in machines foft hackling flax and hemp



3 Sheets-*S heet 1. 3. Pi ARNOLD.

Haickling Machine.

Patented Jan. 4, 1853.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. P. ARN OLD.

Hackling' Machine.

atented Jan. 4, 1853.

Ivy. /3.

3 Sheets-Shet 3. J P. ARNOLD.

Hackling Machine.

No. 9,512. Patented Jan. 4, 1853 g I I Unit-ran fi'rains JAMES P. ARNOLD, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

lhilPROVEMEN'l' EN lVl/tCl-HNES FQR HACKLiNG FLAX AND HEMP.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 9,512. dated January 4, 1853.

from the machine, and Fig. 3 represents an end elevation of the machine.

The first part of my invention and improvement consists in the method of hackling hemp after it has been suitably prepared (by rotting, breaking, and sentching) for that operation by subjecting it to the action of a series of mixed combs and heaters, the beaters of uniform radial length, but the teeth of the combs gradually increasing in length from the point at which the fiber is first subjected to their action to the point at which the operation is completed. By this method of operation a larger percentage and a better quality of long staple or first-quality hemp is obtained from a given quantity of the rough or broken and scutched material than by any of the methods heretofore adopted, and as a necessary consequence the proportion of tow is diminished in the same ratio as the long staple is increased; and as the long staple is much the most valuable eommodity, it follows that this branch of my invention enhances the value of the Whole hemp crop in the same degree that it increases the yield of long-staple fiber.

The second part of my invention consists of a narrow slotted rest open at one end, and acting in connection with a projecting concave that holds the fiber in the proper position against the. cylinder during the operation of hackling. The narrow slot of the rest keeps the fiber properly spread, and thus insures. the action of the teeth and beaters upon every part of it, and also protects the hand of the attendant which grasps and holds the fiber against being accidentally drawn into the machine and mutilated, while the projection of the concave and rest beyond the end of the cylinder allows the fiber to be spread out into a thin layer, so that it can be entered into the narrow slot of the rest, and also permits the presentation of the fibers to the teeth of the cylinder in a direction parallel or thereabout to the plane in which the teeth rotate, thus avoiding breaking of the fiber that would occur if it were presented across the plane in which the teeth move.

The accompanying drawings represent a machine composed of a strong frame, Z, supporting a rotating ribbed and toothed cylinder, \V, with its casing; a concave, E, to support the fiber in contact with the cylinder; a rest, B, to hold the fiber while being hackled by the cylinder, and a platform, F, for the attendants of the machine to walk upon while presenting the fiber to the action of the machine. The cylinder XV consists of a shaft whose journals turn in suitable bearings on the ends of the frame. The heads J of the cylinder are made in this instance with arms,and are secured upon the shaft in any suitable manner. The periphery of the cylinder is composed of staves or lagging, which may be secured to the heads in the usual or any convenient way. Upon the periphery of the cylinder a series of ribs or boaters, A, are secured parallel with the shaft and projecting a uniform radial distance-say two inches. more or lessf'from the cylinder throughout their entire length. A series of rows of combs, D, equal in number with the ribs and parallel thereto are also secured upon the staves. These combs are placed equidistant from the ribs,and their teeth gradually increase in length from the end at which the unhackled fiber is presented, to the end at which the hackling is completed and the fiber withdrawn. The first or shortest teeth project much less than the ribs, as they are only about a quarter of an inch in length, while the longest teeth project beyond the ribs, being, say, two and a half inches long. Then a hand of the mixed long and short staple, or long fiber and tow, is first presented to the cylinder, as seen in Fig. 3, the beaters pass over it to smooth and keep it spread out, while the shorter teeth penetrate between the surface-fibers of the hand to straighten the long fibers and comb out the tow; then,-asthe hand of fiber is moved along the rest by the attendant, it is subjected to the action of the longer teeth, which penetrate deeper among the fibers, str ightening a second layer of the long staple and combing out the tow from it;

and so the work progresses as the hand is moved along the rest, until the fiber is at length subjected to the action of the longest teeth, which penetrate through it, removing all the tow and straightening out all the long fiber, when the operation of hackling is complete and the fiber is withdrawn. The separation of the tow from the long fiber, and the straightening out of the latter by subjecting the rough material to the action of a succession of combteeth,whieh penetrate it gradually deeper and deeper, insures a thorough performance of the operation, with vastly less breakage and damage of the long fiber than when, as in the methods commonly practiced, it is subjected suddenly to the action of long teeth, which at once penetrate through the whole mass, breaking great numbers of the long fibers and rendering them to tow, which, by my method of gradual penetration and combing in asuccession of thin layers, would be disentangled and straightened out, forming fiber of the first,

quality. The hackling cylinder, thus constructed and operating, acts in connection with a rest, 13 O, placed along one side of it and parallel to its axis, and a concave, E, placed beneath the rest, which extends round about a quadrant of the cylinder. 'The rest consists of two parallel bars, B O, which are best made of iron, and are placed one above the other at a distance of about three-eighths of an inch apart, leaving a long narrow slot parallel to the axis of the cylinder and about level therewith. The lower bar, B, is secured to a cross-timber of the frame at the upper edge of the concave, and the upper bar, 0, is secured to the lower edge of another crosstimber a short distance above and parallel with the first. The ends of the cross-bars adjacent to that end of the cylinder having the longest hackle-teeth are joined together by the corner-post of the frame; but the opposite end of the bars, where the unhackled fiber is introduced into the machine, are separated, the corner-post being, at this end of the machine, divided, so as to allow the timbers and the rest-bars to stands separate like the prongs of a fork, to facilitate the introduction of the fiber between them. The lower bar, B, at the open end of the rest, and also the concave, project at this point eighteen inches (more or less) be yond the end of the cylinder, to form a platform on which'to spread out and arrange the 4 unhackled fiber preparatory to introducing it into the slot of the rest and between the cylinder and concave. This platform is important in the operation of the machine, because, if the hand of fiber should not be spread out in athin layer on the platform and over the rest-bar B, itcould not beintroduced into such a narrow opening as is presented by this construction of the rest, and the fiber could not be arranged in a direction parallel to the plane of rotation of the hackle-teeth atthesame time of its introduction between the cylinder and concave. but much of it would lie across the plane of rotation of the teeth and would be broken. The upper bar, 0, is rounded off at the open end of the rest, to'widen the space between the forks at that point to facilitate the entrance of the fiber. If the platform was dispensed with, the slot or opening of the rest would have to be made so wide, in order to introduce the fiber, that it would allow the hands of the attendant to be drawn through into the cylinder, and as accidents frequently happen in this way in using machines with wide throats, the attendants have to exercise the greatest care, and to be constantly on the alert, to avoid being drawn into the machine which prevents them from working with such a degree of freedom asis essential to the quick dispatch of the work; consequentlya man will not do anything like as much work per day 011 those machines as he will on mine, all other circumstances than the size of the mouth of the rest being the same. The'concave is constructed of plank arranged concentric with the cylinder and as close to the range of motion of the beaters and comb-teeth as will allow the latter to pass without striking it. The office of the concave is to support the fibersin the best position for the beaters and combs to act upon it, and also to keep the tow, &c., combed out of the long fiber within the range of motion of the beaters and combs, that it may be carried round and discharged thereby at the mouth of the concave at the back of the machine. The raised floor or platform F for the attendants to stands on is placed at any convenient height-say three feet belowthe slot of the rest.

In operating with this machine, the cylinder is turned rapidly in the direction indicated by the arrow by animal, steam, or other power, and from one to five or six persons may work with it at the same time, according to the rate at which it is required to dispatch the work. If one man is workingat the machine, he seizes by the middle, with his right hand, what is termed among hemp-cleaners a hand 7 of the fiber, and gives the end next to his body a turn round his hand. He then whips the outer end over the projecting end of the rest B, and, with a rapid motion of his left hand, spreads it into a thin layer over the rest-bar; and the projecting end of the concave E then advancing toward the end of the cylinder, he moves the fiber laterally into the slot of the rest, and between the concave and cylinder, and continues moving it along until it reaches the opposite end of the cylinder, when that end of the hand of fiber within the rest will be properlyhackled, the long fibers being combed out straight, and the tow, dust, and slivers separated therefrom, and discharged at the mouth of the concave at the opposite side of the cylinder. The workman now withdraws the hand of fiber from the rest by stepping backward, and, turning it in his hand, he holds it by the hackled end as he before held it by the other end, and, going back to the projecting rest and platform, whips the undressed end of the hand over the same and moves it along the rest, and between the concave and cylinder, as before, until he arrives at the opposite end of the rest, when the hand of fiber is withdrawn completely haekled. This finished hand of fiber is now laid aside, and another unhackled one taken up and dressed by a repetition of this operation. If several men are working on the machine together, they each go through with the same manipulation, constantly following each other in endless suecession, some feeding the hands of fiber along the row at an equal distance apart, and others returning from the closed end of the rest, where the operation of haekling the fiber has been completed, to the open end of the rest, to commence operations on another portion of unhackled fiber. This method of carrying hands of fibers laterally in endless succession from one end. of the hackling-cylinder to the other not only admits of the gradual performance of the operation with a greatlyincreased yield of first-quality fiber, but it also increases the capacity of the machine to perform its duties in proportion to the number of persons that work at it; and this increase of the quality of work, from the manner in which it is effected, it will be seen, cannot possibly impair the quality of the work, as each hand of the fiber is subjected to precisely the same kind and amount of hackling action when several are being operated upon at once, as they would be if hackled one at a time.

I do not confine myself to any particular form or arrangement of the parts, so long as the machine is so constructed that it will operate substantially in the manner herein set forth. The form I have described and represented is the one I have essayed with success, and therefore deem it sufficient to show how my invention may be practically carried into efi'ect.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The method of hackling hemp by subjecting it to the action of a series of mixed heaters and combs, the teeth of the latter being of Varying length, some of them not proj ecting so far, and others beyond the boaters,

and the whole operating substantially in the manner herein set forth.

2. A rest, 13 0, having a narrow slot open at one end, in combination with a concave, E, projecting beyond the end of the cylinder at the open end of the rest, substantially in the manner herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JA r. ARNOLD.

lVitn esses:

l. H. XVA'rsoN, ALBERT E. H. JorrNsoN. 

